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Environmental Science, Communication and Decision Making Södertorns Högskola 2006-2007 Master Thesis Supervisor: Björn Hassler Biogas and Cattle Organs – An Alternative Significant Source of Energy for Sustainable Development in Rural Bangladesh Prepared by, Adnan Jamil Stockholm, Sweden E-mail: auronno@hotmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The paper entitled “Biogas and Cattle Organs – An Alternative Significant Source of Energy for Sustainable Development in Rural Bangladesh” has been prepared for fulfillment of the degree of Masters in Environmental Science, Communication and Decision making at Södertorns Högskola At first I would like to thank the Almighty who has given me the opportunity and ability to complete this study This study would not have been possible and prepared in time without direct supervision, guidance and valuable suggestion and comments of my respectable supervisor, Mr Björn Hassler, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science I am also indebted to my honorable teacher Mr Ernst Hollander especially for his article on Demand Shaping Model, Mr Michael Gilek and Mr Elfar Loftsson, for their time to time guidance, suggestion and comments, which helped me fundamentally to build my basic concepts related to this research Further I would particularly thank my parents without whose encourage and supports, I would not be able to reach so far and finish my higher studies abroad Finally my sincere appreciation goes to all the readers, respondents and classmates for their excellent co-operation during the research period Adnan Jamil Stockholm, 31/05-07 Table Of Contents 000 Chapter One: Introduction 06 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Objectives of the study 1.3 Scope of the study and possibilities of future research 1.4 Working method 1.5 Previous research 1.6 Limitations of the study 08 10 11 12 13 14 Chapter Two: Current energy situation in Bangladesh 15 2.1 National energy situation and the actors in energy sector 2.2 Institutions and their functioning 2.3 Foreign direct investment and the role of foreign entities 2.4 Commercial energy 2.5 Traditional energy 2.6 Rural energy situation 2.7 Nuclear energy 2.8 Alternative renewable sources of energy 2.8.1 Solar energy 2.8.2 Biogas 2.8.3 Solar PV’s 2.8.4 Wind power 2.8.5 Hydro power 2.8.6 Tidal energy 2.8.7 Wave energy 2.9 Energy plans, draft policy documents and renewable energy policy issues in Bangladesh 16 19 19 20 21 22 24 24 24 25 25 25 25 26 26 27 Chapter Three: Theoretical framework 28 Chapter Four: Sustainability 31 4.1 Ecological sustainability 4.2 Social sustainability 4.3 Economic sustainability 31 33 35 Chapter Five: Biogas production 37 5.1 What is biogas 5.2 Raw materials used in Bangladesh to generate biogas 5.3 Biogas plant, digesters and technology 5.3.1 Floating cover digester 5.3.2 Fixed cover digester 5.3.3 Plastic cover digester 5.4 Purposes of biogas use in Bangladesh 5.5 Summary 37 39 40 41 41 41 42 43 Chapter Six: Cattle organs as raw materials 44 6.1 Availability of raw materials 6.2 A comparison in between traditional raw materials and cattle organs 6.3 Summary 44 47 59 Chapter Seven: Conditions for introducing biogas in rural Bangladesh 50 7.1 Availability of technical devices/ infrastructure 7.2 Availability of technical know-how 7.3 Availability of construction materials 7.4 Availability of input materials 7.5 Some profound constraints in biogas program in Bangladesh 7.6 Summary 51 51 52 54 54 55 Chapter Eight: Conclusion 55 List of tables Table 2.1: Comparison for energy use Table 2.2: Bangladesh’s remaining gas resources Table 2.3:Rural household energy consumption by fuel Table 5.1: Daily volume of solid waste at Dhaka Table 5.2: Various use of biogas from a family size digester Table 6.1: Livestock population in Bangladesh Table 6.2: Trends in annual consumption of meat Table 6.3: Carcass weight and percentage slaughtered by species Table 6.4: Number of slaughtered animal species Table 6.5: Wood fuel demand-supply projections up to 2013 Table 6.6: Animal residues in 1999 Table 6.7: Trends in annual production of meat 17 21 23 40 42 44 45 46 46 48 49 49 List of figures Figure-1: Relations among different stakeholders in energy sector Figure-2: Total energy supply from traditional sources Figure-3: Present rural energy uses in agricultural and household sector Figure-4: Wood fuel supply by sources Figure-5: Recycling process through integrated farming by implementing biogas technology Figure-6: Bio-methanation system Figure-7: Demand and supply gap in fuelwood 18 22 23 31 36 38 47 Abstract A study has been conducted to assess the possibilities to introduce dead cattle organs as the raw material for biogas generation at the rural household level in Bangladesh At the same time, the present energy situation in Bangladesh is highlighted The actors in the energy sector have been identified The energy policy of Bangladesh is not transparent and there seems to be no energy strategy for the country Possibilities of other renewable sources of energy are also discussed Biomass fuels comprise the main source of energy for the rural people and the major share of energy use is consumed after cooking and household lightning Enormous amount of labor is spent in gathering and collecting of fuel wood and agricultural residues that reduces productivity among women and young children Besides, biogas is generated from agricultural residues and animal excreta in Bangladesh Tremendous pressure on rural forests for fuel wood is increasing and environmental degradation is occurring Agricultural lands are losing vital nutrients as people are using crop residues and animal excreta for energy Under present condition, the possibilities of adopting biogas technology and dead cattle organs as the raw materials to generate biogas is analyzed in terms of availability of the raw material Sustainable development using biogas is also considered And lastly, some recommendation is suggested, based on the current energy situation of Bangladesh Key Words: Energy sector, Sustainable development, Biogas, Demand-supply, Sustainability, General Equilibrium, demand shaping Chapter 1: Introduction By all measures, energy is a key determinant of socio economic development of any country Bangladesh, a small country of 55,000 square miles having more than 143.8 million people (FAO Yearbook Livestock Bangladesh, 2005) would require gigantic amount of energy for its development But the matter of fact is that Bangladesh faces an acute crisis in the energy sector The challenges include a very limited choice of energy sources, shortage of funds for research purposes and overall development in energy sector, technical expertise etc these challenges are more enhanced by the pressures put on decision makers by various lobbies to go the decision in their favorable positions, an alleged lack of transparency in the decision making process and a shortage of technical experts In this research paper, the state of energy sector of Bangladesh is studied and the actors involved in the energy sector are identified It is found that, there is an acute lacking of harmony and integration among these actors Moreover, there appears to be no energy strategy for the country and the energy policy is not transparent and unclear Natural gas is the primary indigenous energy source of Bangladesh; however the reserve is not adequate for long term internal needs Energy sources option of Bangladesh are very limited and efforts in utilizing modern renewable energy resources are at a very early stage Rural energy sector, which is the largest single component of Bangladesh energy, has never received sufficient attention 77 percent of the total population of Bangladesh lives in 70,000 odd villages Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries The population density is 1,104.8 persons per square Km (FAO Yearbook Livestock Bangladesh, 2005) The population growth rate is declining In the 80’s the growth rate was 2.2 percent and in 1999-2000 it was 2.3 percent (FAO Yearbook Livestock Bangladesh, 2005) Bangladesh is an impecunious country with an annual per capita income of 396 US dollars per person More than 40% people live below the poverty level and 24% are hardcore poor Agriculture is the main sector of employment which employs 53.7%of the labor force (FAO Yearbook Livestock Bangladesh, 2005) Only 4% people are connected in a gas pipelined network and in villages there is almost no gas network at all (Chowdhury, 2003) Access to electricity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world Only about 30% households in the country have electricity coverage in total But in rural areas, where 80% of the total population lives, the rate is really diminutive Only about 10% households in the rural areas have electricity access The rate of connecting households in the electricity network is increasing, however at a very slow growth rate In 1971, the year Bangladesh achieved their independence, only 3% of the population was in the network Bangladesh has one of the lowest levels per capita consumption of commercial energy in South Asia, equal to 160 Kg of oil Per capita electricity consumption is 144 KW Demand of energy is increasing about 10% every year According to USAID report, since 1976, they have contributed approximately 210 million dollars to rural electrification Rural electrification programs have created 70 rural cooperatives that provide electricity to more than 40 million people with more than 2,000 new connections each day (REB management information report) 96% of rural electric cooperative customers pay their bills which is about 277 million dollars annually in total (http://www.usaid.gov) There are many areas in the country where electricity will not reach in the next 30 years More over the price of oil is too high for the poor rural people As a result, biofuel or biomass is the major source of energy use in the villages And almost 90% of this biofuel comes from agricultural sector According to data gathered for FY 1986, 65.2% of biomass energy for fuel use comes from crop residues (jute sticks, rice straw, rice hulls, sugarcane refuses and other waste products), 24% from firewood, twig and leave, 7.8% from animal excreta and the rest from other sources This firewood typically comes from village trees as there is no scientific or planned cultivation of fuel crop The main purposes of energy use in the villages are mainly household lighting and cooking Young children and women remain busy more than half of the day gathering fire wood and agricultural residues Excessive cutting of trees in the villages for firewood brings environmental degradation Biomass is cheap but extensive and unplanned consumption pattern of biomass fuels led the consumption beyond regenerative limits with serious environmental consequences (Islam, 1990) Continuous use of leaves, twigs, agricultural and animal residues as fuel deprive soil from valuable nutrients and causes soil erosion, especially in the coastal region of Bangladesh (Islam, 1993) Apart from these, many adverse health problems are also occurring mainly among women Biogas could be the solution to this energy problem for the poor villagers The technology is rather simple and construction materials are available This gas could be used for any purposes from cooking to household lighting, heating and even to run a television or radio or even running small machines Moreover biogas could imprint its footstep in sustainable development in the village environment, society and economy It could enhance the civic life of the villagers by diminishing health problems, promoting education and providing the scope of entertainments which are discussed in the upcoming chapters Scientists in Sweden are producing biogas from dead cow organs such as fats guts and other organs, which we usually throw away as wastes The technology is the same and the traditional digesters could be used to produce biogas from dead cattle organs Using of these cattle organs could save the forests and other crop residues and can maintain the balance in environment It could also be helpful to balance the ecological bio diversity A part of this research paper illustrates the potentiality of this new raw material, their availability and how biogas technology and this new raw material can put their foot steps in sustainable development This research paper also makes some recommendation for the betterment of energy sector after assessing the current energy situation of Bangladesh This research mainly focuses on three aspects First of all, this research paper tries to assess the current energy situation, the actors in energy sector and energy policy in Bangladesh Secondly this paper also tries to assess the use of biogas technology and cow organs to generate biogas, in a sustainable manner And lastly, this research paper tries to assess the availability of cattle organs and the use of those cattle organs to generate biogas, in terms of rural Bangladesh 1.1 Background of the study The population in Bangladesh is increasing along with the increasing demand of energy The demand is increasing 10% annually Larger energy supplies and greater efficiency are needed to meet this demand As the conventional grid-fed electricity can only cover 15 percent of total households, biogas could be the source of alternative energy for the people in Bangladesh Biogas is produced by bacteria in the bio-degradation process of organic materials under anaerobic (without air) conditions Methanogens (methane producing bacteria) are the last in a chain of microorganisms, which degrade organic material and return the decomposition matters to the environment In this process biogas is generated, a source of renewable energy (Rehm & Reed, 1986) In 1972, the first biogas plant was installed in Bangladesh at Bangladesh Agricultural University (Eusuf, 1997) From then in many other places biogas plants were set on account of research purposes Attempts to promote biogas plants (including Grameen Shakti) for household use in Bangladesh achieved limited success especially because it was produced with animal and other human excreta Besides, unavailability and critical gathering process was also a barrier to this source Moreover, Bangladesh does not have such land availability to grow fuel crop As a result previous attempts regarding promotion of crop residue based biofuel was not so popular among people, because of unavailability of raw materials A survey was conducted by CGEA-ONYX of France in October 1997 to find out the possibility to install a waste to-energy plant in Dhaka Average calorific value and density of the solid waste were found to be 750 to 950 kcal/kg and 0.35 ton/m3 respectively (Mazharul, 2002) Large-scale dissemination of biogas plants has been possible in China and India Bangladesh started experimenting with biogas during the 70s’ However Bangladesh could not succeed in making biogas popular among people There were several reasons behind being failure Lack of Government’s interest in biogas, deficiency of funds for research purposes, lack of interest among the foreign investors in this field, political instability and low acceptance of this gas among people for religious and social reasons were the main reasons for being awkward in biogas technology (Rahman, 2000) A recent research enabled Swedish scientists to generate biofuel, especially methane from dead cow organs Swedes are now producing biofuel from cow organs as a regular source of energy and using this gas to run trains (www.news.bbc.co.uk) Eventually, this biofuel will decrease the fuel cost one third The technology, digester and plant are same only the raw material is different Swedes are able to produce as much biogas to run a train kilometers from one cow The technology is rather simple To India Besides, a large number enters in illegal way Most of these imported cows are consumed for meat Table 6.3: Carcass weights and percentage slaughtered by species Carcass weight (KG/animal) Percentage slaughtered/year Year 1980 1990 2000 2002 1980 1990 2000 2002 Cattle 56.0 60.2 70.3 70.0 10.0 10.0 10.3 10.5 Buffaloes 74.4 74.7 76.1 76.6 5.1 5.1 5.5 5.5 Sheep 5.1 7.0 6.9 7.0 25.0 25.0 33.5 33.5 Goat 5.1 7.0 7.0 7.0 50.0 50.0 54.0 53.1 Pigs 0 0 0 0 Species/ Source: FAO Yearbook Livestock Bangladesh, 2005a As an Islamic country, people in Bangladesh sacrifices about 10 million cows, goats and buffaloes on a festive day More than million cattle enter Bangladesh, both in legal and illegal ways, to be sold for this festival According to FAO Yearbook 2005a, in 2002, the number of livestock imported from outside had the value about 73.5 million US Dollars However a large number of livestock also enters Bangladesh which does not have any trace in official papers The table above shows the carcass weight and percentage slaughtered by species According to FAOSTAT, in 2003, the number of slaughtered animal species was, Table 6.4: Number of slaughtered animal species Species Number Cattle 2465000 Buffaloes 46000 Goat 18600000 Sheep 383000 Source: http://faostat.fao.org 46 In Bangladesh, these animals are slaughtered only for meat and the rest of the organs such as guts, bones, fat etc are thrown away or have a very small use But Bangladesh can easily use this huge amount of organs as raw materials to generate biogas, which are available throughout the country any time in the year 6.2 A comparison between traditional raw materials and cattle organs Fuel wood, agricultural residues and animal excreta are used as the raw materials to produce biogas in Bangladesh But these materials are not available everywhere in the country Besides, fuel wood is becoming more and more expensive due to scarcity Agricultural residues are hard to get due to increasing competition of gathering Animal excreta are hard to transport and collect As a result, these traditional raw materials are not the best solution Sing of these raw materials is more costly and demand a high degree of labor Figure – Demand and supply gap in fuelwood Source: Bangladesh Energy Commission Board, 2000 Total wood fuel consumption of the country is about million cubic meters, per year Among that amount, 5.1 million m3 that is approximately 63% of the total is used after cooking purposes (FMP, 1992) It is commonly thought that the reserve forests are the main source of wood fuel supply in the country, though statistics shows that 84% of 47 total consumption is supplied from village forests At present there is an acute shortage of fuel wood in Bangladesh Moreover there is no planned cultivation of fuel crop As a result there is always a gap in between demand and supply of fuel wood in Bangladesh A study conducted by FMP has projected the estimated demand and supply of fuel wood in Bangladesh up to 2013 in terms of the current amount of available forestland The report suggested that in 2013, the gap would be of 3811000 cubic meters Table 6.5: Wood fuel demand-supply projections up to 2013 (in 1000 m3 per annum) Year 1993 1998 2003 2008 2013 Estimated Demand 8272 9045 9847 10682 11553 Estimated Supply 6135 6450 6787 7212 7742 Balance -2137 -2595 -3060 -3470 -3811 Source: FMP, 1993 In 2000, the total estimated number of livestock was 59.55 million heads Among the working livestock, 92% cattle were used for cultivation and 0.19% was involved in transportation (Islam, 2000) People in rural Bangladesh use animal excreta mainly cow dung as a regular source of energy In 1999 the total amount of dung was 2,72,02,000 tons But the main difficulty with animal excreta is collection and transportation problem Practically, animal urine is almost impossible to collect and use, unless it is directed towards digester from barn Apart from this problem, ethical barriers, socio cultural taboos and religion are the other obstacles of biogas generated from animal excrement Some religions are radical and hold a very strong position in regard to cleanliness in connection with human or animal excreta As a result cooking with this kind of biogas has a very low acceptance among people Besides, there are some beliefs that illness will result from the handling of human and animal waste 48 Table 6.6: Animal residues in 1999 Animal Output(tons) Buffaloes 757000 Cattle 24427000 Chickens 2018000 Total 27202000 Source: RWEDP, 2001 Cow organs are relatively easy to use and collect Besides, this material is available throughout the country Every year people in Bangladesh consume a lot of cows, goats, sheep and buffaloes for meat Moreover the demand of meat is increasing every year So, people in Bangladesh are slaughtering more and more livestock and producing more organs The following table shows the trends in annual production of meat Table 6.7: trends in annual production of meat (1000 metric tons) Product Year Annual Growth Rate (%) 1980 1990 2000 2002 1980-1990 1990-2000 Meat total 209 308 429 446 3.9 3.4 Beef and buffalo 123 143 176 182 1.5 2.1 Mutton and goat 24 75 132 140 11.9 5.8 Source: FAO Yearbook Livestock Bangladesh, 2005a As the consumption of meat is increasing, Bangladesh can not keep pace with the demand by the internal stock Bangladesh imports a large number of cattle from neighboring countries every year And all those imported livestock is slaughtered and consumed and adds extra amount of organs 6.3 Summary Bangladesh is an agro-based country where 80% of the energy use comes from animals Still now, people in Bangladesh use cows or buffaloes to pull carts or farming 49 Cattle are also thought to be a ready source of cash and these cattle are also involved in economical life of the poor rural dwellers As a result almost all the households have one or more livestock in villages apart from the hardcore poor Bangladesh has a large number of livestock Every day a large number of cattle are slaughtered for internal meat production and the number is increasing daily Besides, every year a huge number also enters Bangladesh from neighboring countries and almost all of those are consumed So, cattle organs are available in Bangladesh Because of increasing demand, fuelwood has become scarce However there was always a gap in between demand and supply of fuel wood There is no scientific planned cultivation of energy crops in Bangladesh So, people have to rely on agricultural residues and animal excreta as raw materials to produce biogas But gathering of agricultural residues needs time and labor On the other hand, animal excreta are hard to collect and transport As a result this research paper comes to a conclusion that cattle organs would be more prolific than traditional raw materials in terms of availability Chapter 7: conditions for introducing biogas in rural Bangladesh The basic concept of biogas must be promoted through national and regional level Community based information dissemination is also a strong tool to promote the basic concept For a successful introduction of biogas technology, effective motivation and mobilization of the target groups are needed (AT information, 1997) Participation of people from grass root level is a must to promote any technology among rural people Thus implementation campaigns could be an effective way to draw people’s attention in the villages Along with making a skillful workforce of rural people, it is necessary to survey the feasibilities in terms of infrastructures, availability of technical know how, availability of construction materials and raw materials etc And the constraints against advancing in this technology must be surmounted in order to progress rapidly in biogas technology 50 Bangladesh started practicing biogas from 1972 however Bangladesh could not make any significant progress in this field Using of biogas is not so familiar among people There are several reasons for Bangladesh of being not so successful in this field This research paper tries to assess those reasons 7.1 Availability of technical devices/ infrastructure The biogas technology has been known since the eighteenth century Till today this technology is a bit too expensive for ordinary rural people, and that is why it is not so popular among low incomer villagers More research is needed to develop a cheaper technology so that poor people ho are still deprived from their basic energy needs, can afford this easily To generate biogas in digesters, technical knowledge is a basic requirement Otherwise dealing with digester inputs, digester temperature, water content etc, could be a problem Simple wood wheel barrows available in the villages could be used to collect raw materials such as, agricultural residues, cow organs and dung This type of vehicle can also be used to transport sludge to the fields or even to carry it to the market to sell In rural areas biogas is primarily used for cooking and household lighting purposes Cooking and lighting does not need to be high tech to be compatible with gas In Bangladesh locally made kerosene or gas cookers are available However, woman in Bangladesh are expert in making clay ovens which not have any production cost These clay ovens could be viable alternative in this case Besides there are a number a NGOs’ that train rural women how to make and use improved cookers and clay The traditional metallic lamps that are used in villages are frequent and can be used with biogas So rural people in Bangladesh are well enough with their traditional equipments which are compatible with biogas 7.2 Availability of technological know-how Using of biogas technology requires a high degree of technical skills both from the constructors and users part Bangladesh started practicing biogas technology in 1972 A number of organizations used to work with biogas technology and after that a separate department was established to extent biogas technology until 80’s This department 51 consisted of specialized experts and they often organized seminars and workshops on how to construct, operate and take care of the biogas digesters These workshops were open to the public However, engineers, NGOs’ were the main target group 24 district level officers of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) were trained on this technology BCSIR introduced a number of plants and those trained officers were involved in training the local people, demonstrating them with those plants Now, several organizations and NGOs’ are working with biogas technology in the grass root levels Besides, these NGOs’ provide rural dwellers with financial assistance to set up small biogas plants and also with technical back-up One thing is obvious that, Bangladesh always had skilled manpower, though they were very few in numbers But several organizations and NGOs’ are working hard to create more skilled manpower regarding biogas technology and the matter of hope is that, these organizations are working in the grass root levels Integration among different organizations working for the same interest would be very helpful Strong monitoring and co operation are also strong tools to evaluate new skills But these organizations must encourage and recruit as many village women as possible, in their training programs, as they will be the most benefited group So, participation of these village women is must and they can take care of the digester easily after finishing their training Only the NGOs’ are not enough to promote biogas, the development and promotion of biogas largely depends on the political will of the donor and recipient government The legal authorities must give public the access to the technology The authorities must also control the market price of required materials Government can put their footsteps to promote this technology by waving tax on construction materials or by subsidies They can also support in research biogas technology, information dissemination and regulations for funding 7.3 Availability of construction materials Usual building materials are used for digesters and associated masonry works Chinese fixed dome type digesters are made of fired bricks, sand, cement and water Metallic material is needed for the Indian floating gasholder In Bangladesh, brick, cement, sand, RCC pipes, gas bulbs, wax and pipe are used both for the fixed dome and 52 floating dome digesters Whatever materials are used to construct digesters, one thing must be considered that the use of cheap material can cause serious problems like frequent operational failure and short lifespan Like other countries, experiments are going on to find alternative cheap locally available material to construct digesters In china, bamboo tubes are being used, as bamboo is locally available and very cheap These tubes are normally coated with some protective materials and connected with pieces of rubber hoses This technique and material could be used in rural Bangladesh as bamboo is available locally Floating gasholder type digesters are relatively more expensive as the gas holder requires expensive construction materials Usually mild steel, galvanized iron, ferrocement, bamboocement and plastic are used as construction materials Like most other countries, mild steel is also used in Bangladesh because of its low cost But the problem with mild steel is that it rusts, especially on the outside surface Sandpaper and painting is used to remove rust Galvanized iron could be used if it is collected at a reasonable cheaper price It is said that life span of an iron galvanized gas holder is about five years unless coated with paint If it is properly painted and maintained, it should give good service for many years Ferrocement and bamboocement are widely used as gasholder material Ferrocement is a compound material consisting of thin wire interlock impregnated with loaded cement gun Ferrocement could be shed into sections as thin as 1cm Ferrocement is a suitable product for its lightweight Instead of wire interlock, bamboo interlock is used and makes the gasholder even lighter and cheaper and easily available For both types of gasholder, suitable coating is required on inside and outside surface Ferrocement and bamboocement gasholders are cheaper than mild steel gasholders, have lower thermal conductivity and high resistance to corrosion (Singoro, 1988) Polythene, high-density polythene and PVC are used for constructing gasholders But these polythene are not recommended as their exposure to sun cause leakage and continuous gas outflow The main difference in between floating and fixed dome digesters is that, floating digesters are 50% more costly than the fixed dome one, though the size is the same 53 However Taiwan has developed a long plug flow digester which is proved to be inexpensive alternative digestion plant for rural people in Bangladesh (Ward F, 1984) 7.4 Availability of input materials Agricultural residues, animal excreta, animal organs, fuel wood and water are used as the input raw materials and these raw materials are available every where in Bangladesh But in some places in north Bengal water is scarce during the summer In this regard, provision of use of grey water could be a solution Even in rainy season, water can be stored and could be used 7.5 Some profound constraints in biogas program in Bangladesh Bangladesh started researching and practicing biogas technology from the early 70s’, yet they fail to adopt this technology and familiarize biogas among mass people Time to time obstacles rose from religious and social taboos in the form of prohibition of biogas for food preparation, prohibition of the use of slurry, ethical barriers, social cultural prohibition etc The implementation of biogas program was linked with some political, administrative and technical problems Some times it was seen that when Government showed their interest, the public of the country did not respond It has occurred that when the Government was giving out loan for setting up small biogas digesters, people received that loan from rural development projects and spent that money for their own purposes, which was not defined in the project However, there are some general administrative problems encounters with new rural development program in every country that includes finance, production, distribution, political activities, local people and project staff together with available staff to carry out the works assigned on them A well functioning and transparent political structure would make the whole thing even better, and this may be one explanation to why the biogas technology did better in China and India, though the state of India spent more money then china for the program (Singoro, 1998) Political instability was one of the main problems against implementing biogas technology in Bangladesh In the history of Bangladesh, no political party was able to 54 form Government twice in a row As a result whenever any Government put their attention on biogas technology, the next Government did not show any respect or interest in that project Consequently, it was seen that every time these projects failed due to lack of attention and proper funding Besides, the Government of Bangladesh could not draw the attention of foreign investors to invest in Bangladesh in biogas industry 7.6 Summary Bangladesh has the necessary infrastructure that is compatible with biogas Locally made mud or kerosene stoves are compatible with biogas Besides, clay ovens could also be used Bangladesh does not have enough man power with technical know how who can train others However the Government and several other NGOs are working among the villagers They are training people on this technology and also financing in micro credits to set up biogas plant Biogas plants could be constructed with locally available materials Digesters are usually made with brick, cement, water, galvanized metals etc However more researches are needed to find out a cheaper construction material which would be available locally In China people are using bamboo as construction material which is cheap and available locally Bangladesh has started practicing biogas technology from 1972 However this technology could not become popular among mass people The government could not act as a promoter of this technology Besides because of political instability and lack of Government’s interest in this field, foreign companies did not invest in researching practice of biogas as an industry Some social and religious prohibition and ethical barriers were also some reasons behind it’s unpopularity among people Chapter 8: Conclusion As a small developing country Bangladesh faces monumental challenge in the energy sector and not having a clear and transparent energy policy and a strong energy strategy is the main reason of this struggles An open, unbiased deliberation of the issues 55 and a comprehensive strategy is needed to overcome these resistances However, Bangladesh can consider a systematic and coherent approach to meet the strategic needs The Government must consider sustained economic and social growth in the country, while making strategic moves Besides, judicious and optimal utilization of available energy sources is must Private sectors and other foreign entities should be included and get access to develop, utilize and examine alternate energy sources The legal, regulatory and enforcement framework must be strengthened and developed The institutions engaged in energy sector must be integrated and compatible for better performance In case of the foreign entities, choice of partnership must be based on their documented financial and technological strengths, their records on environmental issues and social commitments, their management skills, track records of their respect to country’s laws and regulations Any contacts with foreign institutes must include a process for meaningful technology transfer, social support and environmental mitigation as well as use of clearly identified criteria and transparent process to make decisions on foreign partners Actively monitoring the foreign companies is also needed The Government must encourage local institutions and foreign institutes to utilize other possible alternative energy sources Bangladesh has a number of alternative energy sources such as, biogas, wind energy, solar power, solar pv’s, tidal wave energy Some of those resources might turn out to be prolific for Bangladesh However further research is needed to utilize and use those resources properly Unequal distribution of grid line electricity and unexpanded gas pipeline network are the main reasons for not having sufficient supply of household energy in rural areas (Rahman, 2000) Besides, the energy sector is not in a position that could provide conventional energy to rural commodities within a short period Besides the high cost of grid line electricity prevents the villagers to take a connection for their households Besides, the rural energy sector is always been neglected Since independent, no Government has put efforts and attention to develop this sector As a result biomass is the main source of energy for the villagers Now, People use agricultural residues, cattle dung and firewood as the main source of energy and the measurement of using these materials will increase gradually Excessive use of these materials is creating several environmental problems Agricultural fields are losing nutrients as agricultural residues 56 and cattle dung are being burnt for energy Desertification is occurring on account of cutting of trees for fuelwood Forests, agricultural lands, and village forests are losing ecological diversity In order to prevent and avoid those problems an alternative energy source is a must, mainly for the rural dwellers Although there are several alternative sources of alternative energy in Bangladesh, my study recommends biogas to be the prime source of alternative energy for the villagers Biogas is sustainable, economic, easy to use and viable for the poor villagers Dead cattle organs could be an alternative source of raw material for biogas Bangladesh has a large number of livestock Besides, every year Bangladesh imports a large number of cattle from neighboring countries Everyday a lot of different animal species are slaughtered to meet the internal supply of meat As a result, this raw material is available throughout the country Villagers can easily use these organs to produce biogas which will decrease the pressure from agricultural residues, fuelwood and cattle dung and could prevent environmental degradation Moreover, these organs could be helpful for the economic growth of the villagers My research also suggests that biogas technology and cattle organs to generate biogas could be a part of sustainable development in the rural areas It could develop the civic society and social system in the rural areas by putting contribution in education, health system, entertainment and division of labor Biogas technology is not that simple A number of issues must be considered when generating gas such as temperature, mount of liquid etc so technical knowledge is must at the users end In this regard, Government’s support is important Government should work as a promoter of this technology and information dissemination about biogas Government can provide small credits and finance villagers to set up plants More over, Government should pass information and technical education among villagers At present, several NGOs’ are educating villagers about biogas technology and their use These NGOs’ are also arranging seminars and workshop to make a skillful manpower in this technology Moreover, they are also financing villagers to set up digesters in households to promote this technology However more implementation campaign is needed and involvement of civic society is important in promoting biogas technology Involvement of women is a must as they are would be the prime users of this technology 57 The Government of Bangladesh should carry on further researches in this technology More research is needed on community based biogas digester so that biogas could become a regular source of energy in Bangladesh Government must encourage foreign entities to invest in biogas technology to make it an industry Government should also increase the budget after research purposes in this sector Further research with accurate field data in biogas technology would keep significant remarks in the energy sector of Bangladesh 58 Reference “Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific” Paper presented at Regional Seminar on Commercialization of Biomass technology, 4-8 June, 2001, Guangzhou, China AT Information 1997, “Biogas Digest: Economic Viability” Bangladesh bureau of Statistics, 1993 “Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh”, 12th Edn, Dhaka Bangladesh bureau of statistics, 1992, “Statistical pocket Book of Bangladesh”, ISBN-984-508-0, Dhaka Bangladesh Power development 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